"Though I had no hope of getting the situation, I sent some letters of poor Mr. Bishop's as testimonials, and this morning--oh, it is almost incredible--I received this letter, informing me that my testimonials were satisfactory, and that I had obtained the post. And what do you think it is? Oh, the most delightful of all work--the very thing I would have chosen! It is to arrange, and catalogue, and generally take care of a large library. And the salary--this is the most wonderful part of the whole fairy tale--is to be £150 a year. Think of it! One--hundred--and-fifty--pounds a year!"
"It is a very good salary," said Mr. Clendon. "I congratulate you."
She laid her hand on the wrinkled one which rested on his stick.
"But don't you think it is quite extraordinary? Surely one does not usually get such a post as this so easily as I have done! There is a kind of magic in it. You"--she looked at him keenly, searchingly--"Mr. Clendon, have you had any hand in this?"
He looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you think it is likely that I consort with marquesses or have any influence with them?" he asked, with a smile.
"Anyway, it is you who have brought me this great good luck," she said, as gratefully as if he had admitted the truth. "You have been my mascot. A very dear, generous mascot. But you will let me pay you back? But I am almost ashamed to speak of payment, when no money could repay."
"Certainly you shall pay me, my dear young lady," he said, quietly. "I am poor, and you are proud. But you will wait until you draw the first instalment of your salary."
"No need," she exclaimed, triumphantly. "See here!" She held up a cheque. "The Marquess--what a kind, good sort of man he must be!--has sent me a cheque to pay my fare and other expenses."
"I see it is an open one. The bank will pay you when you present it," he remarked, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yes, I am going presently. In the last letter he says that I can go down to the place--Thexford Hall, it is called--as soon as I please; and, of course, I shall start to-morrow. It is in Devonshire, and all my life I've longed to see Devonshire. And now I'm to be _paid_ for going there! Mr. Clendon, I have been living in a dream since this letter came. I've read it fifty--oh, a hundred times! Sometimes I've held it tightly in both hands, afraid that it should turn to a withered leaf, as the paper did in the fairy story, or that I should wake up from my dream and find my hands empty. Do you know Thexford Hall?"